With alternative energy sources like wind and solar growing in popularity, there have also been more debates and some confusion about how best to use them efficiently.

A Reddit user sparked a discussion about the pros and cons of wind power with a post in the subreddit r/ClimateChange.

“I’ve heard that windmills take 5 years to be climate neutral, is this true? So pretty much, windmills take 5 years to actually be positive for the environment? Is it even worth it to build them in that case?” the original poster asked.

Commenters were quick to fact-check this idea and supplied some sources that explained that although the manufacturing process means wind turbines are not climate-neutral, they are very efficient and offer many positive benefits to the environment.

“Wind farms don’t use fossil fuels. There is nothing that can be built without using energy so if that manufacturing energy comes increasingly from renewables, the carbon cost will gradually come down as well,” one commenter said.

According to the Australian Department of Energy and Climate, the average lifespan of a wind turbine is 20-30 years. They are also highly recyclable and have some of the lowest lifetime greenhouse gas emissions among power sources.

“The ‘carbon payback’ period for wind turbines is approximately 5-12 months. This is how long it takes for a turbine to offset the amount of carbon used in its lifetime (including manufacture),” the department says on its website.

The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that the carbon footprints of coal and natural gas are about 90 times and 40 times larger than wind power’s, respectively. Wind turbines overall have a positive impact on air quality, human health, and the climate.

Wind power is sometimes considered secondary to other renewable energy sources like solar power, but it’s been catching up in recent years with many new technological advancements. Turbines designed by artificial intelligence, small-scale urban turbines, and floating wind farms offshore are all helping wind power scale up for the future.

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